Hello Parents,
I hope you have enjoyed your week. I know I am loving these cooler temps! I had a great time last Saturday watching my niece play soccer for Loras College, even in those horrible temps!
Book It- I will give your child their October calendar on Friday. They will need to read 600 minutes in October.
Reading- This week we are reading the story Elisa's Diary. Elisa has moved to the USA from Puerto Rico and is having a difficult time learning to speak English. She can write it, but she can't speak it. She meets a boy from Guatemala who has the exact same problem, but the opposite. He can speak it, but not write it. Together they help each other out. We learn in the end that she has become a teacher. We discussed how the theme of our story is that friends can help you overcome obstacles. Their grammar this week is about making nouns plural. We created a chart to show the rules of how the spelling can change from singular to plural. They need to pay attention to the spelling to determine what to do. They will be able to use that rule sheet as a guide on their test on Friday. In spelling, they created a word search. They will have someone else solve it on Thursday.
This is Week 5 of our series. This means that next week will be the Unit test. I will break it up over the week, but I hope to be done by Friday.
Math- They are working on multiplication with single and double digit numbers. We are also working on figuring out a division problem by using the distributive property. This is more challenging and we do a lot of it together to get the process down. We should be nearing a test soon.
Religion-They will be testing over this chapter next week. We have been discussing the Paschal Mystery and the sacraments.
We really enjoyed the visit from Sister Mary Vincent, a friend to the Eblen family. She explained how she became a sister and everything they have to do. It was GREAT!
Next Monday we will be having a speaker in to discuss bullying. K-5 will be in the gym right away that morning. Wear a blue t-shirt to support no bullying!
Have a great weekend! Early out on Friday for homecoming. I am heading back to Waterloo for my niece's homecoming.
God Bless ,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Hello Parents, I hope this has been a good week for you! It always seems a bit crazier for me when we have 4 days.
Mass- The 5th graders did a great job with our mass on Wednesday! If your child wasn't in this one, they will be in the next one which will be after Thanksgiving.
Reading- This week they are reading a story called Double Dutch. This is a nonfiction story about a group of girls that have a Double Dutch jump rope team and they compete in contests. We are working on sequencing of events this week. Their grammar is working on nouns-- common and proper. They know the rule for proper nouns is that they have to begin with a capital letter. They did a worksheet on Wednesday that gave them a common noun like state. They had to give me a proper noun like Alaska for that word. They also had to practice their spelling words by writing them in rainbow colors!
We are almost finished with our book Wonder. The movie comes out in November. I told the kids that IF it comes to Creston, I will pick a day to go and if any of them or you want to join me ...we can see it together! I know many of them have watched the trailer already. It's funny because a scene I read on Wednesday is in the trailer. They told me it doesn't happen at night...it's in the day. I told them...that is because they can change things from book to movie. One of them said,"The book is always better!" I couldn't agree more!
Math- We are halfway through the chapter. They are working on multiplication by single digits right now. This should be review. They are also estimating to find the product. I have them rounding the number to the largest place value position and then they can do the rest mentally. On Wednesday they did more of this, but had to fill in the answer in a crossword box. Many of them told me the answers weren't working in the boxes until we looked over their work. We found errors like the copied the problem wrong, they multiplied wrong, or they added instead. It is a good checking position for them!
Acts of Service- Last weekend I saw a post from a father in Idaho who was talking about his 8 year old son. This son is bullied every day because of his facial deformities- much like Auggie in our book. The son has even talked about suicide. He is 8. I felt horrible and messaged the dad privately. I asked him if my 5th graders could write Jackson letters to hopefully lift his spirits and let him know that others are thinking of him. The father, Dan, is beyond grateful. So, I am going to have them make Jackson some cards and I will mail them. What I want our kids to realize is that we need to accept all differences, not just the ones that we can see on the outside. We need to accept all people and they don't have to have major deformities for us to stand up for them. Okay, I'm done now. :)
Have a great weekend! I hope to see some of you at the Color Run on Sunday. I really enjoyed it last year! I am heading Waverly and Dubuque this weekend. I get to finally see my niece Grace play soccer for Loras College! Go Duhawks!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Mass- The 5th graders did a great job with our mass on Wednesday! If your child wasn't in this one, they will be in the next one which will be after Thanksgiving.
Reading- This week they are reading a story called Double Dutch. This is a nonfiction story about a group of girls that have a Double Dutch jump rope team and they compete in contests. We are working on sequencing of events this week. Their grammar is working on nouns-- common and proper. They know the rule for proper nouns is that they have to begin with a capital letter. They did a worksheet on Wednesday that gave them a common noun like state. They had to give me a proper noun like Alaska for that word. They also had to practice their spelling words by writing them in rainbow colors!
We are almost finished with our book Wonder. The movie comes out in November. I told the kids that IF it comes to Creston, I will pick a day to go and if any of them or you want to join me ...we can see it together! I know many of them have watched the trailer already. It's funny because a scene I read on Wednesday is in the trailer. They told me it doesn't happen at night...it's in the day. I told them...that is because they can change things from book to movie. One of them said,"The book is always better!" I couldn't agree more!
Math- We are halfway through the chapter. They are working on multiplication by single digits right now. This should be review. They are also estimating to find the product. I have them rounding the number to the largest place value position and then they can do the rest mentally. On Wednesday they did more of this, but had to fill in the answer in a crossword box. Many of them told me the answers weren't working in the boxes until we looked over their work. We found errors like the copied the problem wrong, they multiplied wrong, or they added instead. It is a good checking position for them!
Acts of Service- Last weekend I saw a post from a father in Idaho who was talking about his 8 year old son. This son is bullied every day because of his facial deformities- much like Auggie in our book. The son has even talked about suicide. He is 8. I felt horrible and messaged the dad privately. I asked him if my 5th graders could write Jackson letters to hopefully lift his spirits and let him know that others are thinking of him. The father, Dan, is beyond grateful. So, I am going to have them make Jackson some cards and I will mail them. What I want our kids to realize is that we need to accept all differences, not just the ones that we can see on the outside. We need to accept all people and they don't have to have major deformities for us to stand up for them. Okay, I'm done now. :)
Have a great weekend! I hope to see some of you at the Color Run on Sunday. I really enjoyed it last year! I am heading Waverly and Dubuque this weekend. I get to finally see my niece Grace play soccer for Loras College! Go Duhawks!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Dear Parents, Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a great week! The heat is back! This will be great weather for Balloon Days!
Reading- This week they read a story about two kids who are running for class president. They each have to give a speech to their classmates to persuade them to vote for them. Miata is all about doing things that are good for the school: cleaning up the graffiti, getting computers, etc. Rudy wants to get ice cream served every day at lunch and more recess time. The 5th graders caught on pretty fast to who was taking it more seriously. We did talk about the kind of language they used in their speeches as well. Miata used more formal language, while Rudy used more informal. His was more idioms and slang terms. We also read a short excerpt on two other kids running for office and using posters to persuade the votes their way. On Wednesday, I used that thought and combined it with our book Wonder . Auggie in our book is teaching us about being kind to kids who don't look like everyone else. He has some facial deformities. So they worked in pairs to persuade all the students in STM to be kind to everyone.
I am really trying to open their eyes and ears to the things they do and say to each other that are so negative. They tell me they fight like brothers and sisters, which is true, but at the same time that doesn't make it right. We are having a lot of little talks in the classroom about what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable. I just want them to be aware. We need to make sure we are following our social contract. We are making small strides.
They will test over this story on Friday. It is also week 3, which means that there will be an extra story for them to read and 10 more questions to answer. I am slowly getting grades on our grade book that is online. We had some glitches because of the new upgrade, but I think those are worked out now.
Facebook-- I hope you are checking out the pictures or posts I put on for our classroom. If you aren't connected-- ask to join St. Malachy Fabulous Fifth Grade!
Math- This week we have been getting involved with Algebra. They are working on the different properties-- Commutative, Associative, Identity, and Distributive. We are also learning about using exponents with the base of 10. I told them this is good practice for middle school. We are about half way through our chapter.
Religion- They took their first test on Wednesday. We are taking a short break and working on a project. I am friends with a woman from my hometown who sends care packages to any service men and women who are overseas. This summer she gave me a tour of her work room. It is quite the production. The 3-5 graders are writing short positive sayings or messages on mailing labels. Those labels will be put on baggies that are filled with shaving equipment, snacks, stationary, candy, toothbrush and toothpaste. Next month we will be making Christmas cards. They will be sending out boxes in early November so we need to get those done. IF you know of a service man or woman who is stationed overseas and want them to receive a package, please let me know their address. Tracy will gladly send them one too!
Reminder: NO school on Monday, September 18.
Mass- The 5th graders have mass next Wednesday. I had to divide the class up. I don't have enough jobs for 18 people. Please know you are welcome to join us!!! They will have their parts on Thursday or Friday sp so they can practice this weekend if they need to.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy your activities or if you are around for Balloon Days!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week they read a story about two kids who are running for class president. They each have to give a speech to their classmates to persuade them to vote for them. Miata is all about doing things that are good for the school: cleaning up the graffiti, getting computers, etc. Rudy wants to get ice cream served every day at lunch and more recess time. The 5th graders caught on pretty fast to who was taking it more seriously. We did talk about the kind of language they used in their speeches as well. Miata used more formal language, while Rudy used more informal. His was more idioms and slang terms. We also read a short excerpt on two other kids running for office and using posters to persuade the votes their way. On Wednesday, I used that thought and combined it with our book Wonder . Auggie in our book is teaching us about being kind to kids who don't look like everyone else. He has some facial deformities. So they worked in pairs to persuade all the students in STM to be kind to everyone.
I am really trying to open their eyes and ears to the things they do and say to each other that are so negative. They tell me they fight like brothers and sisters, which is true, but at the same time that doesn't make it right. We are having a lot of little talks in the classroom about what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable. I just want them to be aware. We need to make sure we are following our social contract. We are making small strides.
They will test over this story on Friday. It is also week 3, which means that there will be an extra story for them to read and 10 more questions to answer. I am slowly getting grades on our grade book that is online. We had some glitches because of the new upgrade, but I think those are worked out now.
Facebook-- I hope you are checking out the pictures or posts I put on for our classroom. If you aren't connected-- ask to join St. Malachy Fabulous Fifth Grade!
Math- This week we have been getting involved with Algebra. They are working on the different properties-- Commutative, Associative, Identity, and Distributive. We are also learning about using exponents with the base of 10. I told them this is good practice for middle school. We are about half way through our chapter.
Religion- They took their first test on Wednesday. We are taking a short break and working on a project. I am friends with a woman from my hometown who sends care packages to any service men and women who are overseas. This summer she gave me a tour of her work room. It is quite the production. The 3-5 graders are writing short positive sayings or messages on mailing labels. Those labels will be put on baggies that are filled with shaving equipment, snacks, stationary, candy, toothbrush and toothpaste. Next month we will be making Christmas cards. They will be sending out boxes in early November so we need to get those done. IF you know of a service man or woman who is stationed overseas and want them to receive a package, please let me know their address. Tracy will gladly send them one too!
Reminder: NO school on Monday, September 18.
Mass- The 5th graders have mass next Wednesday. I had to divide the class up. I don't have enough jobs for 18 people. Please know you are welcome to join us!!! They will have their parts on Thursday or Friday sp so they can practice this weekend if they need to.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy your activities or if you are around for Balloon Days!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Monday, September 11, 2017
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Hello Parents, Happy Thursday! I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!
Spirit Day- This Friday is our first one of the year! $1 for sweats. They can also sport their favorite team for Iowa vs ISU or whatever school they choose to cheer on!
Reading- This week we are reading a story called The Royal Mystery. It is about two girls at camp, but one is definitely used to a certain way of living, so she has to get used to camp life. Plus, she also is kind of secretive about her life and family so there is a great little twist at the end of the story. This story is also written in a play format so we discuss how the style of those are written. We talk about scenes, stage directions, and the clues we are supposed to show when reading (how a character reacts). In grammar we are discussing the four types of sentences and the punctuation they each require. On Wednesday, they were given a sheet of sentences to cut out. The next step was to read them and decide what kind of sentence it was and then glue it on piece of paper in the right column. It seems like the imperative and interrogative ( command and question) sentences get the most confusing. You will see in their take home folders their score sheets from last Friday's test.
Math- We are working on place value this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday they were showing how to write a number in standard, word, and expanded form. The most confusing seems to be the difference between showing me the value of a number and the place value. Value tells me what a number is worth. Place value gives me a name to that number-- hundreds, ten thousands,etc.
Religion- We always begin with our creation story. The most important thing I try to relate to them is that we are all created in God's image. We are made to be like him. That means our actions and words should also resemble him. We also focus on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. They will be creating pictures to show me how three things can all be in one item.
Food Pantry- Our first visit will be next Friday, Sept. 15.
Book Order- In your child's folder is a book order. If you would like to order, please return them by next Friday, Sept. 15. IF you are sending a check, write it to me or Scholastic. Thank you!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Maybe I will see you at the Food Fair on Sunday! I am working at the dessert booth!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Spirit Day- This Friday is our first one of the year! $1 for sweats. They can also sport their favorite team for Iowa vs ISU or whatever school they choose to cheer on!
Reading- This week we are reading a story called The Royal Mystery. It is about two girls at camp, but one is definitely used to a certain way of living, so she has to get used to camp life. Plus, she also is kind of secretive about her life and family so there is a great little twist at the end of the story. This story is also written in a play format so we discuss how the style of those are written. We talk about scenes, stage directions, and the clues we are supposed to show when reading (how a character reacts). In grammar we are discussing the four types of sentences and the punctuation they each require. On Wednesday, they were given a sheet of sentences to cut out. The next step was to read them and decide what kind of sentence it was and then glue it on piece of paper in the right column. It seems like the imperative and interrogative ( command and question) sentences get the most confusing. You will see in their take home folders their score sheets from last Friday's test.
Math- We are working on place value this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday they were showing how to write a number in standard, word, and expanded form. The most confusing seems to be the difference between showing me the value of a number and the place value. Value tells me what a number is worth. Place value gives me a name to that number-- hundreds, ten thousands,etc.
Religion- We always begin with our creation story. The most important thing I try to relate to them is that we are all created in God's image. We are made to be like him. That means our actions and words should also resemble him. We also focus on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. They will be creating pictures to show me how three things can all be in one item.
Food Pantry- Our first visit will be next Friday, Sept. 15.
Book Order- In your child's folder is a book order. If you would like to order, please return them by next Friday, Sept. 15. IF you are sending a check, write it to me or Scholastic. Thank you!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Maybe I will see you at the Food Fair on Sunday! I am working at the dessert booth!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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